Important Metrics of E-mail Marketing

E-mail marketers use a number of metrics to help determine the success of campaigns and provide guidance on how to improve e-mail marketing efforts. Among the most common metrics are the following:

Open Rate—This metric refers to the percentage of e-mails in an e-mail campaign that is opened. A high open rate is an indication of high engagement. Oftentimes, high engagement is the result of a strong and appealing subject line.

Hard Bounce/Soft Bounce—A hard bounce occurs when an e-mail fails to be delivered as a result of a permanent issue, such as a non-existent address. A soft bounce occurs when an e-mail fails to be delivered as a result of a temporary issue, such as a full mailbox or an unavailable server. This metric provides an indication of list quality.

Click-through Rate (CTR)—This metric represents the number of unique clicks on a given URL divided by the number of times the e-mail is opened. An even better indicator of engagement than open rate, a high CTR indicates that the content was compelling to the reader.

Conversion Rate—This metric indicates the number or percentage of recipients who respond to the call to action in an e-mail marketing campaign or promotion. A measure of an e-mail campaign’s success, conversions can be measured in sales, phone calls, appointments, and more.

Cost per Thousand (CPM)—This metric refers to the cost per 1000 e-mail addresses on a purchased or rented list. A rental list priced at $100 CPM indicates that the list owner is charging $0.10 per individual e-mail address.

Opt-in Rate or Subscribe Rate—This metric measures the growth of the e-mail list. Opting-in or subscribing to an e-mail list requires an individual to choose to receive e-mail communications by supplying an e-mail address to a particular company, website, or individual. Customers who opt-in or subscribe accept inclusion on the list and grant permission to the company to send them e-mails. Subscribers can often indicate areas of personal interest and/or indicate which types of e-mails they wish to receive from the sender. A growing opt-in rate is an indication of expanded reach.

Opt-out Rate or Unsubscribe Rate—Opting-out or unsubscribing from an e-mail list is the result of someone choosing not to receive communications from the sender by requesting the removal of his or her e-mail address from the mailing list. Regulations regarding the use of e-mail lists vary from region to region. It is generally not acceptable to send list-generated e-mails to receivers without their permission. Unsubscribe options are often mandatory on subscription e-mails.

Here is an example of E-mail Marketing Metrics:

Customers who register for program loyalty cards usually have the option to join an e-mail list. They can be given further options to receive e-mail offers and information from associated companies. A customer agreeing to participate in all e-mail lists after registering for a department store loyalty card can anticipate follow-up e-mails from the department store and other consumer product distributors. The department store will want to track its opt-in rate to measure the consumer’s perceived value of receiving ongoing correspondence from the store. The opt-out rate will help to quantify the actual quality of the correspondence being sent. Regularly sent e-mails that do not provide value to the customer will have a high opt-out rate.